Environmental Industries acquires landscape construction operations

Environmental Industries, Inc. (EII), a closely held landscape company
announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement with ServiceMaster
Corporation (NYSE: SVM) for EII to acquire certain landscape construction
operations of TruGreen LandCare L.L.C., its wholly owned landscape subsidiary,
in most areas of the United States.TruGreen’s
construction operations had sales of approximately $168 million in 2000.TruGreen’s lawn care and landscape maintenance divisions will remain
with ServiceMaster and are not included in this transaction.Terms were not disclosed.

The acquired operations will become a part of Valley Crest, Environmental
Industries’ landscape construction company. The acquisition gives Valley Crest
extended penetration into the landscape construction, site engineering and
design-build segments of the landscape services market and complements the
company’s leading position in the multi-billion dollar landscape industry.The venture also creates a strong base of new customers for Valley Crest
in Washington-Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Austin.

In making the announcement, President and COO of Environmental Industries,
Richard A. Sperber said, “We are pleased to join with these operations and the
teams that run them.These are
outstanding organizations with a good reputation and include some of the finest
landscape people we know.”

“We’ve been searching for the right mix of acquisition opportunities
to complement the great market position we enjoy,” he added. “This deal
makes sense strategically. It strengthens our core services and our ability to
offer full-service landscape and site development services for customers across
the country,” he continued.

The new market operations will report to Valley Crest President and Chief
Operating Officer, Thomas C. Donnelly.“This
move develops access to new growth opportunities and creates an industry leader
committed to world-class practices and operational excellence,” said Donnelly.“These operations have their heritage in some of the finest landscape
companies and people in their areas and we are thrilled to have them as part of
our company.”

This is EII’s fourth acquisition in the last 24
months and follows the company’s most recent acquisition of North Haven
Gardens in Dallas in December 2000.With
this venture, Environmental Industries will increase the number of employees
nationwide to more than 6,500, and will increase the company’s annual proforma
revenue to nearly $600 million.

Founded as
Valley Crest Landscape Nurseries Inc. in North Hollywood, Calif., in 1949, Environmental
Industries (EII) was formed in 1969 as a holding company for all of its
operating divisions. Today,
Calabasas-based EII employs 6,100 people nationwide. Consisting of three primary
entities—nursery, construction, and maintenance—its brands include
Environmental Care, a landscape maintenance, irrigation, water management and
professional tree care services company; Environmental Golf, a provider of golf
course maintenance services across the U.S.; Valley Crest, a site development,
pre-construction, landscape and irrigation services company; Valley Crest Tree
Company, a nursery grower and mover of containerized specimen trees; and U.S.
Lawns, a franchise landscape maintenance company.

Environmental Industries ranks in the top 40 of
privately held firms in Los Angeles. It is listed among the top 80 contractors
in the nation, according to Engineering
News-Record—and the only landscape company listed within the
publication’s Top 400 contractors.The
company was recently ranked in the top 150 as a Design-Build Master Builder by
the Design-Build Institute of America.